The Importance of Core Strength for Athletes
How Do You Tell If Your Core Muscles Need Training?
Having strong core muscles can help athletes improve performance and decrease the likelihood of injury. They help you maintain balance and stability during movement, as well as provide a solid foundation for exercise. But is there a giveaway sign that you need to work on your core strength?
Why are your core muscles so important?
The core muscles are comprised of major and minor muscles.
The major core muscles include:
Transverse abdominis
Multifidus
Internal and external obliques
Erector spinae
Diaphragm
Pelvic floor muscles
Rectus abdominis (your abs)
The minor core muscles include:
Lats
Traps
Glutes
Combined, these core muscles do a vast range of jobs. They help your spine to stay straight, supporting your body and preventing severe injury. Core strength is crucial to athletic performance and good health, and critical when lifting heavy weights and balancing on unstable surfaces.
The benefits of a strong core include:
1. Stabilizing the trunk
Core muscles are important for your body to stay upright, maintain balance and stability, and prevent injury. They also help to maintain a neutral spine when standing or sitting, which is essential for good posture.
2. Controlling movement and transferring energy
The core muscles are active in everything you do. When you walk, climb stairs, or play sports, they work together to keep you stable and balanced. They also help you move your limbs by transferring energy from the lower body up to the upper body, and to your limbs.
3. Providing a solid base to the body for speed and movement
With a strong core, your trunk will remain stable while your arms and legs are moving ─ and stability in hips and shoulders is crucial for speed and movement.
Why great athletes benefit from having a strong core
The core is the foundation of an athlete’s body.
With a strong core, you can move freely and with stability. A good core will allow you to maintain your balance and coordination more easily. Finally, it will also help you generate power and speed with less effort.
To make sure your core is strong, you should perform exercises that target your core muscles. This is especially important if your sport requires you to produce quick, powerful movements with your arms or legs.
Consequences of having poor core strength as an athlete
A strong core is the key to a healthy and strong back and torso, and stable hips and shoulders. Should your core muscles become weak or dysfunctional, it can lead to several serious health problems including chronic pain and injuries such as back pain or knee pain. Your speed and power will suffer, and you’ll have lower endurance during practice or performance.
This combination of effects of a weak core makes it likely that other muscles will work harder to take up the slack. This develops into the overcompensation effect and can damage those muscles that are having to work harder as you expect more from them.
How do you know you need to work on your core strength?
To know if you need to work on your core strength, there are some symptoms or signs for which you can watch. For example, if you feel pain in your back, shoulders, or neck during training or competition, it may be a sign that your core muscles are weak and not strong enough to support the spine during movement.
However, the real giveaway that it’s time to work on your core muscles is a lack of stability. For example:
If you are having trouble maintaining balance on one leg
You can throw weight a long distance but have trouble holding a plank position
Indeed, the plank is one of the best tests of core strength, stabilization, and balance. If you have difficulty holding a plank for more than 10 seconds at a time without shaking or wobbling, then this is a good indication that you need to build a more stable foundation through the development of your core muscles.
How do you develop your core strength as an athlete?
You cannot properly develop what you don’t understand. This is why when we meet with a new client, we always start with a comprehensive 90-minute evaluation session.
When evaluating your core strength, we usually begin with a few basic exercises, adding weight gradually to get a measure of the maximum stress your body can take. However, we know that your performance is not about how much weight you can take. It’s about how effectively you can use your core strength.
We’ll also discuss your specific needs and goals, and assess your capacities. This is a crucial discussion, as core training must be adapted for your sport and activities, how you use your core for performance (for example, endurance or power), and your position on the curve toward your goals.
It’s critical that your core strength development plan is designed and maintained so that it supports your body and adapts to the movement that you put your body through. Hence, we consider every relevant factor and work with you to create a meaningful and unique-to-you training plan.
Whether or not you are an athlete, our principle is the same: helping you find the minimum effective dosage of the right training to achieve your goals and setting an evolving baseline from which to improve your strength and health in the long term.
Take the first steps to long-term solutions with Reload PT
Core muscle development is the key to strength, flexibility, balance, speed, and power. Whether or not you are an athlete, core strength is crucial to your physical health, as well as helping to prevent injury.
Our 90-minute comprehensive assessment will help you understand how your core muscles are helping or hindering you in your daily activities or your athletic performances. We’ll help you learn how your core muscles work, and how to best target them for a stronger, more balanced body.
To begin your journey to a fitter, stronger, healthier, and higher-performing body, book an appointment with Reload PT for a comprehensive 90-minute body evaluation.
